Sakris Kupila

Sakris Kupila (born 1996 and from Humppila, near Forssa) is a Finnish transgender medical student who was serving as the chair of Seta (the name was originally an acronym meaning Seksuaalinen tasavertaisuus "sexual equality") in 2019-20. This is the main LGBT rights organisation in Finland.[1]

Sakris Kupila
Born (1996-04-14) April 14, 1996
Humppila, Finland
OccupationMedical student
NationalityFinnish

Biography

Kupila was assigned female at birth but experienced gender dysphoria from an early age. At the age of nineteen, he initiated the legal process of change of gender from female to male. As a condition for this, he first had to receive a psychiatric diagnosis of transsexuality which equates the condition to a mental disorder.[2]

In addition, Finland has a second legal requirement for gender change which is sterilization. Kupila refused this, and was denied a change in legal gender. In response, he began an international campaign involving Amnesty International to have the Finnish law changed as infringing his transgender rights. The latter he considered as an integral part of his overall human rights.[3][4]

This was despite LGBT rights in Finland being regarded as some of the most progressive in the world.

The campaign ended in August 2017, when the Finnish government decided not to amend the law on gender transitions.[5][6]

Kupila is married, under Finnish same-sex marriage law, to Jaana Tiiri who is a disability rights activist. They reside in Helsinki, where he is undertaking medical studies at the University of Helsinki.[7]

In 2019 he was listed as among the top ten most influential medical professionals in Finland.[8]

References
  1. "Setan uusi puheenjohtaja on Sakris Kupila" [Seta's New Chairman is Sakris Kupila] (in Finnish). 25 November 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  2. "Bill to change Finland's transgender sterilization requirement comes up short". Uutiset. 7 October 2017.
  3. "Stop Finland discriminating against transgender people". Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. Amnesty International. "SAKRIS KUPILA, Denied legal gender recognition" (PDF). www.amnesty.org.uk.
  5. "Finland Must Protect Trans Rights". 29 August 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  6. "Life in Limbo". 8 March 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  7. Wegelius, Maria. "De säger att vi är psykiatriskt rubbade" (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  8. "Terveysalan sata vaikuttajaa vuodelta 2019" (in Finnish). 13 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
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